Yahoo! News - Junk Food One-Third of U.S. Diet, Study Finds
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Junk foods such as sugary sodas and chips make up nearly one-third of calories in the U.S. diet, researchers said on Tuesday.

A study of 4,700 adults showed that, despite the increased popularity of low-carbohydrate diets, soft drinks and pastries pile on more calories in the daily diet than anything else.

"What is really alarming is the major contribution of 'empty calories' in the American diet," said Gladys Block, a professor of epidemiology and public health nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley, who led the study.

Writing in the June issue of the Journal of Food Chemistry and Analysis, Bock and colleagues said that sweets and desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages account for nearly 25 percent of all calories consumed by Americans.

"In contrast, such healthy foods as vegetables and fruit make up only 10 percent of the caloric intake in the U.S. diet. A large proportion of Americans are undernourished in terms of vitamins and minerals," Block added.

And someday they will strengthen the correlation between mental health and diet. (see story below) Is it any wonder we have "issues" when we put all this garbage into our body?